President Biden laid out his strategy to appeal to unionized workers on Wednesday, painting himself more like them and less like former President Trump.
Biden spoke twice to crowds of unionized workers last week, using each occasion to criticize Trump over his job training to appeal to the critical voting bloc on a personal level.
“Guys, we all know people like Trump who despise us. It is not? We all know someone we grew up with like that,” Biden said at the North American Building Trades Union (NABTU) National Legislative Conference on Wednesday. “It’s either Scranton values or Mar-a-Lago values.”
Biden painted Trump as a bully of working-class Americans while using words like “we” to include himself in the labor movement.
“A defeated former president who sees the world from Mar-a-Lago and bows down to billionaires, who despises American union workers. It’s not that he doesn’t support us, he despises us,” he said.
“Think about the guys you grew up with that you wish you could put in the corner and just give them a straight ride. I’m not suggesting we hit the president,” she added, laughing. “But we all knew these guys growing up.”
Last week, he told a conference for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), “my opponent has learned that the best way to get rich is to inherit it.”
NABTU endorsed Biden on Wednesday and IBEW had already endorsed him before the conference.
It is part of Biden’s efforts to rebuild the coalition that won him the White House in 2020, with special attention to recently unionized workers. He often says he is the most pro-union president in history. He became the first commander in chief last year to join a picket line to attack auto workers.
Biden argued Wednesday to union workers that Trump inherited wealth. Trump began his business ventures with a $1 million loan from his father, Fred Trump, and he supposedly received at least $413 million from his father over time.
“People like Donald Trump learned a different lesson. He learned that the best way to get rich is to inherit. He learned that paying taxes is something workers do, not him. Telling people you’re fired is something to laugh about. Not in my house, not in my neighborhood,” he said. “If you grew up where we grew up, no one handed you anything.
Biden was referring to Trump’s popular reality show, “The Apprentice,” where he fired contestants with his signature boardroom style.
Meanwhile, Biden has painted himself as “middle class Joe,” a title he has referred to throughout his decades in politics.
“The guy never worked a day with a working man’s boots on,” Biden said, referring to Trump. “By the way, you gave me a pair of boots… I know how to put them on. Sometimes I still mow the yard. The Secret Service won’t let me do that anymore.”
But 2016 saw a significant shift in union support for Republicans. That year, union families began to shift from blue to red, helping lead to Trump’s victory in states like Michigan. Biden won that state in 2020, but faces a new set of obstacles in 2024, with protest votes centered on his policy toward Israel.
Biden’s campaign this cycle has invested heavily in swing states with a large union presence, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.
But recent polls show Trump ahead of him in these swing states. Trump holds a 6-point lead over Biden in six of seven states — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll Wednesday. He led Trump by 2 points in Michigan.
Biden was supported by several major labor groups, including the United Auto Workers and the United Steelworkers, as well as the main labor group, AFL-CIO.
The president on Wednesday thanked NABTU for supporting him. The group’s president, Sean McGarvey, said Wednesday that his union won’t “waste too much time” on Trump supporters.
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The president also praised unions for their work, noting that workers are helping to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after its deadly collapse. He frequently praises unionized workers for their contribution to the US, as well as for being a group that “brought him to the dance,” referring to their support for him in 2020 and during his time as a senator.
“This is America, this is the labor movement,” he said.
He added another dig at Trump before signing off: “Folks, the choice is clear. Donald Trump’s vision of America is one of revenge and retribution.”
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